by Linsey Hall
Beside me, Ana groaned, then lay still once again.
Shit.
Can’t wasn’t going to get us anywhere. Ana needed me. And the fear in my chest drove me to action, as it always did.
Fight first, questions later.
I swallowed hard and climbed shakily to my feet.
The warrior turned toward me, along with his three compatriots. His blue eyes landed on me, and he approached. The black smoke no longer rolled out from beneath his feet and the thunder of warhorse hooves had disappeared, but he was still in fight mode.
A guy like him was always in fight mode.
I edged away from the buggy—no need to risk my last possession, or Ana—and called upon every scrap of magic I had left. It vibrated inside me, desperate to be set free—as if it, too, knew that this was our only shot.
I hurled the power at him, the sonic boom exploding out of me. It wasn’t much—just the dregs of my magic—but any size sonic boom was usually pretty good.
It smashed into all four of them, bowling the two men and the woman off their feet. They landed hard in the dirt, skidding backward.
But the man didn’t budge. He just kept walking.
Shit.
That had never happened before.
I glanced down at Ana. I’m so sorry.
Then I turned to the man, straightening my shoulders. There wasn’t an ounce of magic left in me, but I still had my sword stashed in the ether. I just needed to find a time to use it.
As he stalked toward me, his magical signatures filled the air. Each supernatural had a magical signature that was uniquely theirs. They hit the senses—taste, smell, touch. That sort of thing. Very strong supernaturals had more than one signature.
This guy had all five.
The scent of a storm at sea filled my nose, and the taste of tart apples touched my tongue. His magic sounded like the clang of swords in battle and felt like a caress against my skin.
I shivered.
It took all I had to ignore it and focus on the aura that radiated from him. Black and silver—it was a strange one. I’d never seen any like it.
In fairness, I’d seen only a few auras in my life. They were the rarest signature of all.
He stopped about ten feet from me, sizing me up.
Fair enough, since I was doing the same to him.
He was built like violence personified but was insanely handsome in a way that warmed me and made me feel like a giant idiot at the same time. He was dangerous, and he looked it.
His black hair gleamed in the sunlight, and his green eyes glinted with interest. But it was his full lips that softened his harsh face, drawing my gaze.
I was attracted and scared and pissed, all at the same. It was a sickening combo, to be honest.
At some point, his friends had rejoined him, but they lingered about ten feet back, as if making it clear that he was the boss and they were backup.
His gaze dropped to Ana, who lay in the dirt a few feet from me. I stepped toward her, getting in the way.
“You protect your friend?” he asked, his rough voice tinged with a sexy Scottish accent.
“Obviously, you moron.” Well, that wasn’t a great start.
The corner of his full lips quirked up. “I expected a thank-you, not insults.”
“A thank-you?”
“For killing your attackers.”
“Ha. I had that under control.” So maybe he was helping us?
“Hmmm.” His eyes sparkled as he glanced toward my destroyed house. “Aye.”
I scowled, but was happy to let him believe that Ricketts’s men had done that. Not me, no way. “Who the hell are you?”
“I’m Cade, and I am here to collect you.”
“Collect?” My heart thundered. They were here to collect us? These folks didn’t seem like the people we’d run from as children—they were too young, and their magic didn’t smell evil, like our pursuers’ did. Still… “I’m not super interested in being collected.”
I looked around, hoping against hope that the town’s residents would rise up to protect us. But no way in hell that was going to happen. Death Valley Junction was a last resort kind of town. One where you came if you were in trouble. Hence, it was full of outlaws minding their own business. We might get a hat tip, but no backup. The closest thing we had to family or friends here was an old man we’d befriended when we’d first arrived. But he was too old to launch an attack, and I wouldn’t want him to risk himself like that. So that was out.
“Come.” Cade stepped forward, his hand outstretched.
Seriously? I was dealing with a destroyed house and deadly poisoning and now these folks?
“Hmmm.” I tapped my chin as I stepped back, mind racing. Stalling for an idea. Or lulling him away from the hyper vigilance he wore like a cloak. Waiting for Ana to wake. I wasn’t sure what I was stalling for yet—just that I needed some kind of advantage. “Not interested. Especially when you haven’t explained who you are.”
“I represent the Undercover Protectorate. We’d like to make you an offer.”
The name rang a bell, but I couldn’t place it. I quirked a brow. “One I can’t refuse?”
The woman behind him huffed a laugh.
“Aye.” He nodded.
Beside me, Ana shifted slightly. Waking? She’d do it quietly, hoping to have the advantage. I knew her like I knew myself, and that was what I’d do. But what about the poison?
On the ground, her hand formed a peace sign.
Our symbol.
Fight time.
It was ironic that we’d chosen the peace sign for when we would launch an attack, but we’d always been a little weird. Like our SWAT team formation from earlier, this was a holdover from when we knew we’d have to run for it eventually.
I shifted left, making sure to draw his eyes away from her. “Well, I refuse.”
“You haven’t heard it.”
I darted my gaze to the left of his shoulder, forcing my eyes wide and my expression horrified. As expected, he turned to look.
I drew my sword from the ether, the magical atmosphere that surrounded us, and sliced it toward him. I’d wound him enough to distract his colleagues, then we’d run for it in the buggy.
Ana jumped up as I’d known she would, then crouched, ready to fight or flee.
But as my blade neared him, Cade reached out without even turning, catching the shining steel in his hand.
Holy fates!
I jerked at my blade, but he gripped it tightly. No blood seeped from his palm—though it should. My sword could cut through metal.
“What the hell?”
He turned to me, his gaze heavy. “Don’t try it. You can’t beat me.”
“Are you a robot?”
His lips quirked up in a sexy smile. “Hardly.”
From behind him, the two men laughed. They had dark hair and golden skin, both of them pretty enough to be in a boy band.
The one on the left smiled. “Strength of a robot, maybe.”
Butt smoocher.
Ana moved closer to me so her shield could block us both. Sweat dotted her forehead. “I don’t know what you’re offering, but I heard Bree refuse, so I’m out, too.”
The scary water woman’s mouth quirked up in a smile.
“That’s not an option. You’re coming with us. It’s not safe to speak here, but we’ll explain when we arrive back at headquarters,” Cade said.
“You want us to come to some mysterious place with you, a guy who isn’t hurt by swords? That’s literally the worst offer I’ve ever gotten, and I was once offered a night in the sack with a guy named Big Monkey. He had no teeth, and his knuckles dragged on the ground. So let’s just say I know a bad offer when I see one.” Out of the corner of my mouth, I whispered to Ana, “Shield us to the buggy. Now.”
She threw out her hands, her shield bursting forth. We raced for the buggy, which was only six feet away. We could make it. We had to make it.
Cade was fast, though.
He was on us in seconds, somehow breaking through Ana’s shield. Her magic faded entirely.
What the hell!
Something was really wrong with her. That poison…
I swung my blade, slicing his shoulder. The deep cut welled with blood, but he moved faster, so quickly I almost couldn’t see him. His strong arms wrapped around me, pinning my sword arm to my side.
One of the other men was on Ana a moment later.
I thrashed and struggled, but his iron grip kept me immobile. His heat burned through me, making my heart pound and rage rise in my chest. “Let me go!”
Ana shrieked, managing to get an elbow into the face of the man who held her.
“Rat bastards!” she shouted.
“Ah, ah. I’ll have you know that my parentage is sound!” The man grinned.
“He’s 100 percent moron! Both sides!” The platinum-haired woman crowed.
These people were nuts. I thrashed in Cade’s iron grip, desperation fueling me. But he didn’t budge, the cage of his arms somehow gentle despite their permanence.
The woman stepped forward, digging into her pocket. She pulled out a small black stone.
A transport stone.
“No!” I screamed.
She chucked it to the ground, and glittering smoke rose up. Cade dragged me into it, and the ether sucked me in, sending me on a whirlwind ride through space. My head spun as the blackness surrounded me.
A moment later, I stumbled on solid ground. Cade released me, and I went to my knees in soggy, cold grass.
I shivered and scrambled to my feet, spinning around.
My heart calmed—just slightly—when I saw Ana next to me. She’d managed to maintain her footing, but probably only because her captor still held her.
All around us, mountains soared, stretching into the distance. Steep and dusty green, they were freaking amazing. Sweeps of purple covered their sides, and in a deep valley a sparkling river wound toward the horizon. The air was cool and wet, gray clouds hanging low.
We were so not in Death Valley anymore.
“Where are we?” I demanded. There wasn’t a single building, road, or car in sight.
“Scotland. The far north,” Cade said.
“Otherwise known as the ass end of nowhere.” The woman grinned, then sauntered over and stuck out her hand. “I’m Caro.”
I stared at her hand like it was a snake, then met her silver eyes. “You have to be joking. You just abducted me. I’m not about to make nice.”
She shrugged, clearly not bothered. “You’ll come around.”
“They all do! We did,” one of the men said. He let go of Ana, and she darted away, stumbling toward me.
There was only one reason they’d let go of us. There was nowhere to go. Not for miles, probably.
The dark-haired man smiled. “I’m Ali.”
“And I’m Haris,” the other said.
“What are you?” I demanded, remembering their creepy power.
“Djinn,” they both said.
At my blank look, Ali said, “People think we’re genies, but we don’t do wishes. Just invisibility and possessing people.”
They’d made those mages kill themselves.
I backed up. “Stay the hell away from me, then.”
“Seconded,” Ana said.
“Don’t worry about us,” Haris said.
I’d be the judge of that. “We’re in the Highlands, then?”
Ali glanced at the mountains around. “What gave it away?”
“Funny.” I shot him the hairy eyeball.
“You can’t walk out of here,” Cade said. “So you may as well come with us and hear what we have to say.”
“I’m not afraid to walk.” I stepped back from him, wanting to put as much distance as I could between myself and the sexy supernatural of indeterminate—but terrifying—species. I made it three steps before I hit an invisible barrier. “What the hell?”
“You’re on our land,” Cade said. “Until you’re within the castle, you can’t go far from us.”
Caro winked.
A freaking wink? She was nuts.
“Come on.” Cade turned and set off across the side of the mountain. “We’ll explain it all when we’re within the walls. It’s safer there.”
The others followed. When they were about ten feet away from us, immense pressure formed at my back, forcing me to follow. Ana kept in step with me, dragged along in the same way.
If only my magic weren’t depleted, maybe I could blast out of this. We’d just have to go along until we had the strength to fight our way out.
“What the heck is happening?” Ana whispered. “Who are these people?”
“I have no idea.” I studied Cade’s impossibly broad shoulders. “I don’t think they’re Ricketts’s men, since they killed the bastards. But are they the people that Mom warned us about?”
“They don’t seem like the ones who came for us when we were children,” Ana said. “Their magic doesn’t feel the same. Not evil. But dangerous.”
I still remembered running with our mother, the dark magic pursuing us. We’d made it away, barely, but never been able to return home.
“Let’s reserve judgment.” I met her worried gaze. “Because we have bigger problems.”
“Than abduction?”
“Yeah. While you were unconscious, we were both poisoned by that stuff Ricketts uses to force you to go to him.”
Her face paled. “The poison that turns you to stone?”
“I think so. It smelled like it.” We’d heard it described before by other horrified outlaws who’d gone to Ricketts for help. Like we stupidly had.
“Why does he want us to go to him?” she asked. “To make us pay up? We can’t do that without a job or money.”
“No idea. Something weird is happening. We just need to…” My words trailed off as we turned a bend on the mountainside.
“Holy fates,” Ana breathed.
A castle spread out before us, a monstrosity built of gray stone and black slate. The exterior wall soared high, but the towers were even higher, piercing the gray sky. The place was impossibly huge, and magic sparked around it, almost like it was a living thing.
I picked my jaw up off the floor in time to notice Caro staring at us. “Pretty cool, huh?”
“It’s all right.” It was more than all right. It was incredible.
And I really didn’t want to go inside those walls. Because even though it looked like a fantasy on steroids, there’d be no getting out of there.
But our captors kept walking, and we kept being dragged along behind. I dug my heels into the dirt, sweat breaking out on my skin. But it did no good—the spell dragged me along behind them.
“I hate this freaking spell,” Ana muttered, a single bead of sweat rolling down her face.
“Seconded.” I panted, then finally gave up fighting and walked. I needed to conserve my strength, and my chest was starting to ache.
Was that the poison? I shuddered.
Caro sauntered back to join.
“Not bad, eh?” Caro said.
“I’m not a fan.”
“You will be.” She grinned. “I was skeptical first, too, but now I’m a convert.”
“Like a cult?” This was getting weird.
“Nah, you’ll see.” She winked.
The two Djinn were goofing off in the distance, laughing their heads off and clearly comfortable now that they were home. Cade walked with purpose.
Caro studied Ana. “Are you doing all right?”
“Fine.” But Ana’s voice wavered. Her color was paler than usual.
Was she feeling the effects of the poison too?
“Are you sure?” Caro pointed to the guys. “One of the guys could carry you.”
“I’m fine.”
Neither of us were, but I understood her need to put on a show of strength. I wrapped an arm around her waist, and we helped each other walk. My pain wasn’t too bad, but it did ache. I hoped hers wasn’t w
orse.
I looked at Caro, appreciating the concern she was showing to Ana. These people weren’t acting like evil abductors. “You’re really not going to kill us?”
She shook her head. “No.”
Hmmm. I almost believed her.
But maybe that was my desperation talking, because we were at a serious low point. My magic hadn’t renewed enough to make an escape yet. This situation might be bad, but what we were running from was worse. So it looked like we’d be getting a tour of the castle.
They led us up to a massive gate and stopped in front of it. Cade laid a big hand against the sturdy wood and murmured a few words I couldn’t hear.
The gate groaned and creaked as it rose.
Ana and I followed Cade through the gate, everyone else behind us. The wall was so wide that it felt like passing through a tunnel. Magic sparked over my skin, some kind of protective spell that would keep out unwelcome visitors. If I could feel it and I’d been invited, that meant it was strong as hell.
There was no way Ricketts could get through here without an inside man. If he could even find it out here in the boonies, which I sincerely doubted.
I leaned toward Ana and whispered, “If this wasn’t a crazy cult, it’d be a great hideout.”
She nodded. “You read my mind.”
A massive stretch of land sprawled out ahead of us. It was huge, indicating that the castle compound was far bigger than I’d realized. Due to magic expanding the space within, if I had to guess.
In the middle of the open space, about a hundred meters away on a hill, sat the biggest castle I’d ever seen. It was a monstrosity of towers and massive halls, so huge that it’d probably take decades to learn it all. Magic sparked from the place, rolling over the land.
I could see no wall behind the castle. Was it on a cliff?
I sniffed the air, getting a hint of the sea.
It was.
Wow.
We had to be at the very top of Scotland.
To the left, there was a small forest contained entirely within the castle’s exterior wall. On the right were some old buildings. Stables, maybe.
“Follow me,” Cade said.
I blinked, realizing that he’d been staring at us. Concern creased his brow.
Then Ana keeled over, headed for the ground.
Cade was on us in seconds, sweeping her up.
